I approached herpetology during my master thesis, as a student of the University of Pavia (Italy), working on the reproductive success of the Italian common wall lizard, Podarics muralis, in relation to the ventral color polymorphism. After my graduation, I worked in the genetic laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science of the University of Pavia. This experience provided me the opportunity to deepen my knowledge on molecular biology techniques and on the principles of phylogeny and phylogeography data analyses, taking part in several research projects focused on different species like Podarics muralis, Tarentola mauritanica and Pelophylax ridibundus. My PhD project is focused on the study of the successful adaptive radiation of mantellid frogs of Madagascar.